Sunday, December 19, 2010

Curling scarf rescue mission--part two: the drop-column method

Here is the problem, a curling stockinette scarf made of blue and purple sparkly yarn.

Today's post shows a method called the drop-column method, which cured the stockinette roll and made this scarf lie flat. The drop-column method could hardly be easier. Every fourth stitch, a column of stitches is dropped down the scarf length to create a ladder. Then, the scarf is steam blocked. Once blocked, the drop-column fabric goes from wildly curly to flat. Here is a picture of the front and the back of the same scarf, after the drop-column method has been applied.

Front and back

Despite how easy the drop-column method is, I almost didn't include it in this series for five reasons.

It really was designed for WOOL. If you try this method on any fabric except wool, you take the chance of RUINING YOUR SCARF, yes, maybe R.U.I.N.I.N.G. it FOREVER. You have been warned--the drop column method is for wool alone!

The finished look is quite lacy, not a look suitable for all situations.

The technique is rather primitive

The resulting fabric is delicate--it snags easily, for example

When the time comes to wash it, a drop-column scarf needs to be handled with the UTMOST care: hyper-gentle hand washing, laid flat to dry, NEVER, EVER in the washing machine.

Yet, despite these objections, in the end I decided to give this method its own post because it has three indisputable things going for it.

IN WOOL, it really, really works.

It is really, really easy.

It is really, really fast.

Bottom line: if you want to cure the roll on a WOOLEN scarf knit in stockinette, if you would wear a lacy scarf and if you are willing to care for a delicate fabric, let's take a look at the drop-column technique of curing stockinette roll. (If this is not your situation, remember, there are two more posts to come in this series!)

MY SCARF IS ALREADY CAST OFF--CAN I RE-WORK IT NOW?

Are you surprised to see a method using live stitches recommended for restyling an already-finished scarf? Way back in 2006, in the second TECHknitting post ever, knitting's inner nature was discussed. That post stated that any single knit stitch maintains its connection with all the other stitches in its row and its column, even after the knitting process is complete.

In practical terms, this means that knitting can be restyled even years after it first comes off the needles. In even more practical terms, this means that yes, you can put the stitches of an already-knit scarf back on the needles and re-work the fabric, transforming curly rolled-up stockinette into a non-rolling drop-column fabric. Here's how.

Basically, there are two methods. First, you can carefully unpick the original bind-off, catching each live stitch on a knitting needle as the bind-off is released. Alternatively, you can carefully snip a single stitch in the middle of the bottom row, then unravel in both directions from the middle, again catching the stitches on a knitting needle as they pop loose. Click over to the length post for further details and an illustrated how to. You only need to follow along in that post until you get the stitches situated correctly, right arm forward (third illustration, step 6). After you've gotten that far along, come on back to this post!

For the drop-column method, not only is the bind-off undone, but the cast-on is also undone. Again, this can be unpicked or snipped, and again, the length post has illustrated details (removing the cast-on is the same process as removing the bind off.) After you have the top and bottom of the scarf on knitting needles, it will look like the illustration below.

MAKE SURE YOU HAVE ENOUGH YARN TO USE IN YOUR BIND OFF

In the illustration above, note the mini-skein of yarn at both ends of the scarf. If you don't have any excess yarn from the scarf in your stash, then when you put the live stitches on your needles, you must unravel an additional two rows, in order to have enough yarn to bind off the top and bottom when the restyling is complete.The model scarf used up all the yarn, so the mini-skeins represent the top and bottom two rows which were unraveled and are being held in reserve for the bind-off.

DIRECTION OF DROP

Usually, ladders are dropped in stockinette top-to-bottom, rather than bottom-to-top. If you are having a hard time telling which is which, you will see that there is an odd sort of half-stitch at the very edge of the bottom, which is absent at the top. In the illustration below, the half stitch is shown--it is the little extra purple stitch peering around the left side of the "real" blue edge stitch.

The edge three columns are not worked in any way--we leave them alone to avoid stirring up tension issues at the side edges of the scarf. Across the rest of the scarf, the idea is to drop every fourth stitch (3 stitches undropped, followed by a ladder). If your stitch count will not fit evenly into these constraints, not to worry--the excess stitches are hidden between the edges of the scarf and the first dropped column on each side. The edge flips over 180 degrees at the first dropped column, perfectly hiding any excess stitches.

The illustrations below shows the chosen stitches dropped off the holding needle and run down three stitches. The left picture is unstretched, the right, stretched.

At the bottom of each dropped column, stop the ladder two stitches from the bottom, and catch the loose stitch on a safety pin or stitch holder. You don't want to get any closer than two stitches or you run the risk of making a hard-to-fix loopy mess.

BIND OFF the SCARF BOTTOM

When you have run out all the columns, take a free knitting needle in your right hand, and the holder needle with the bottom stitches in your left hand, then bind off the bottom of the scarf--the chain bind off is very good for this situation. As you come to the loose stitch at each column-bottom sitting on its holder, undo the holder and place the held stitch on the tip of your left needle, then bind it off together with its left-hand partner, two stitches bound off as one.

BIND OFF the SCARF TOP

The next step is to bind off the top. Bind off the ordinary stitches in the usual manner. When you come to the top of each ladder, grab it with your fingers and twist it into a backwards loop, then place the loop on the left needle. This twisting maneuver transforms each ladder's top rung back into a stitch capable of being bound off. Bind off all the top stitches including the twisted loops. Again, chain bind off is a good choice.

STEAM BLOCK the SCARF

The last step of all is to steam block the scarf. Below are before and after photos of the fabric--the before represents the look of the fabric when the columns have been run out, but not yet steam-blocked, the after shows how the scrunched-up ladder rungs blossom open from the blocking process.

The ladder rungs, before and after steam blocking

To get from "before" to "after," as you make each section of the scarf steamy with the iron, spread it apart with your hands by gently patting it wider. When the steam dries away, the rungs will remain in the relaxed, open position shown in the after photo.

WHAT WILL MY SCARF LOOK LIKE?

The sparkly blue sample scarf corrected in this post came out quite loose and lacy. This is partly because it was knit loosely, partly because the yarn was of a nature to easily relax during the steam-blocking process. Pictured below is a different drop-column scarf, this one in red, which came out a bit differently.

If you compare the blue to the red, you'll see that the red scarf was knit tighter, and its yarn did not relax as much from the steam-blocking. As a consequence, the red scarf's ladders are narrower and the fabric came out more wavy (bumpy) in cross section. However, the stockinette curl has been cured on both scarves by the drop-column method, and both have been transformed from tight unwearable tubes into (delicate! lacy!) flat scarves.

STILL TO COME in this series

The next (third) post in this series will feature a method which works for all fibers, which is more robust than the drop-column method shown here, and which does not end up with a lacy look--a method more suitable to everyday use by all genders. The last (fourth) post will show a method suitable for scarves which can't have their fabric re-worked: a lace scarf on a stockinette ground, for example, or stockinette color work.

'til next time, good knitting
--TKYou have been reading TECHknitting blog on curing curling scarves, part 2

19 Comments:

Why is this method only appropriate for wool? Is it because other fibers may not be strong enough in that ladder formation, without the knit structure; or is there another problem I haven't considered?

Hi PwithB--wool is woolly. That is, it has little catching hairs which help hold those side columns in place. Before I posted, I tried this trick on a scarf knit in a popular "soft" acrylic and the knit stitches bordering the ladders simply slipped sideways immediately. The result was a ruined scarf--the middle is significantly longer than the sides, the ladders have all but disappeared and the knit stitches themselves grew huge. By contrast, that red woolen scarf at the bottom has been going strong for a long time, and the blue one shows no signs of sideways slippage despite some pulling and tugging on my part. Small samples made in cotton, bamboo and a blend showed immediate signs of slippage also.

However, if you want to fix a non-woolen scarf, there will be a suitable method explained in the very next post!

Hi Anon--the red scarf and the blue scarf are both superwash, so the answer would be "yes," BUT....

The "but" is because, just like some wool is hairier than others, so some superwash is hairier than others. A very delicate smooth merino superwash would not be my first choice, for example. Plus, superwash is treated with resins precisely to smooth down the little catching hairs.

Long story short: try it carefully--run out 20 stitches or so in a single column. Do the stitches zip down like an express train? If so, that scarf would be a poor choice for this method (although the next methods in this series will work.) If, however, you have to encourage the column to run out by tugging every few stitches loose a bit with your fingers, then that superwash will hold.

I recall a technique in a magazine years ago which would make this trick quite appropriate for a boy's scarf. Take a yarn needle and a length of yarn a few inches longer than the scarf and weave up and down through each ladder. You can achieve a solid fabric with a plaid look by using a contrasting color for the weaving. You might even want to do it on purpose!

Hi Cindy--I've been messing around with weaving. It is not as simple as it seems to be--there are various kinks to be worked out. Someday when they're all worked out, there will be a post about "drop-weaving" as I am calling it. In the meanwhile--try for yourself!!! See what you think!!!

Thank you for putting together this great series! I remember reading somewhere that knitting through the back loop (I think they referred to it as "Eastern cross") for the stitch to the left of the dropped stitch would help keep everything in place. Not sure if that's enough to save acrylic, but is that something you think is useful to do? (Honestly, your sample scarves look perfect without any of the fiddling around with crossed stitches.)

Hi C! Hmmm-- if you were to do this on an after-the-fact fix like a drop-column scarf, you'd have to drop three columns for each ladder--two to latch back up twisted, and one to leave as ladders between them. I suppose it might possibly work if you were knitting it that way in the first place, maybe ??

I have a variation on Cindy's idea that might work well with this to save a non-wool scarf. Instead of using more yarn to weave through the ladders, I'd suggest a piece of ribbon (or something similar, like a length of wide bias tape or 1/2"-wide fleece binding). The width and firmness ought to hold the stitches apart, so you don't get the collapsing problem that you mentioned with non-wool yarns, and of course it would add an additional decorative touch.

Is it possible to do something like this for a scarf which has a section of lace pattern, then a section of stocking stitch (repeated a few times)? Ie, just do the drop-columns in the stocking stitch part? If not, I think I'll have to frog... :(

Hi Michelle--it is, of course, theoretically possible to transform any stockinette, but there are, perhaps, some practical impediments to working only a section of stockinette in a lace scarf. First, how will you GET to the stockinette? Must you drop the column through the lace? That is not likely to work very well. Second, there is no natural "top" or "bottom" to the drop column in an otherwise lace scarf--what is to stop the column from running out into the lace above and below it?

I believe that if this were my project, I would perhaps consider lining the stockinette part of the scarf--it could be lined in a very elegant fabric, such as silk, and that would cure the roll on the stockinette without involving the lace part of the scarf, Of course, there is nothing to prevent you from lining the lace part too, perhaps with a contrasting color, and that could look very well.

I was kind of hoping/thinking of perhaps reinforcing across the stocking stitch parts (top and bottom) and running the ladder down... although then I'd have bunching as there's nowhere for the reinforced part to give way.

Hmm. It's fascinating stuff because I *thought* the stocking stitch part would curl, but the pattern tells me the one knit stitch on each side will Completely! Solve! My! Problem! As will the blocking (uh-huh).

Thank you for the link to the lining suggestion; I will fossick around in my fabric stash and see if there is anything suitable.

This series is a great support for novice knitters (however, they were scared of the idea of running stitches itself, he-he).And in the middle of explanation I realised that this method might work for chenille or eyelash yarns as well, because they are hairy enough.Actually, my friend knitted a shrug from eyelash yarn with such ladders and didn't ruin the whole thing.

Hi Anon--your question exposes a flaw in this system--it works better if there are several columns between the dropped ones, otherwise, the dropped columns will act as a hinge, and the scarf will flip shut at the dropped column. So, IMHO, it is better to drop the column and then rework it into a purl column, because you can drop columns a lot closer together if you relatch into purl (relating into purl transforms the stockinette fabric into ribbing, and ribbing does not curl). Here is a post about that procedure: